Rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Monday on follow-through technical buying from Friday's firm close, traders said. "The market closed at the highs on the bell on Friday a lot of buying returned on Monday," said one rice trader. July rice ended 13 cents higher at $9.33 per hundredweight, with the deferreds up 5 to 9-1/2 cents.
November and January made contract highs, triggering some commercial hedge pressure by Rosenthal Collins and RJ O'Brien. An estimated 1,121 futures and 79 options traded. That compared to 2,428 futures that traded on Friday.
Market news was quiet ahead of the US holiday keeping the day's moves mostly technical, traders said. CBOT agricultural markets were be closed on Tuesday for the Fourth of July and re-open with the night session.
The USDA reported late on Monday that 59 percent of the US rice crop was in good to excellent condition, down from 61 percent the week before. In world news, Indonesia said it expects its rice production to increase 1.11 percent this year to 54.75 million tonnes.